I'm about to spring for a Canon T2i (aka the 550D), a newer (not newest) lightweight dslr that takes decent video, too. And in researching doing video with the thing, I came upon this inexpensive toy (compared to its competitors) for shooting video on the move with the camera. It has got a mouthful of a name, the Hague mini-motion camcorder stabilizer:

the Hague MMC

Tests shot with the thing are impressive, including tests where the user is walking up stairs. ( Here's a clip on a blog showing it in use.)

The coolest part is you can take it hiking since it can go nicely in your backpack when not in use, and it fits the "light" parameters, considering what its rivals weigh and cost (more than 10X as much):

the Steadicam pilot

Granted, it's not pro Steadicam stuff. But it sure seems to fit the light-hiking requirements of the ULBP amateur photographer. Which leaves me with a few questions that this forum's photo-savvy members might answer.

Ever held one? Or seen it work in person?

This thing seems to be made in England, with no US distributors. Think it's safe to order it on ebay from overseas? At $123 it almost seems too good to be true.

BTW, the reason I'm not getting the T3i (or T4i or T5i, which I'm sure are coming out soon), is that several camera review sites prefer the older T2i to the most recent T3i. Plus the T2i is smaller and lighter than its successor, besides being cheaper now that it's been replaced. I just think that with this toy -- and along with a tripod, you could get some incredible video: footage on the trail, slow-mo, time lapse sunsets, etc.

I do see a "snowball" effect, meaning I'll replace my fuzzy Windows Moviemaker clips with more-complicated Adobe Premiere Elements ones, besides all the time spent learning tutorials to be able to use it all.

If this "system" works, we should all chip in and get wandering daisy this setup. Can you imagine a video of her off-trail travels in the Wind Rivers to go with her excellent guidebook? Or maybe I can master it all (yeah, right) and she can just take me along. She'd have the best adventure show of all time.